Movies I Saw, 2011 (2)

This is a long-procrastinated post. I’m blaming on the move and whole internet set-up issue. Now I'm back!

I call this season a season of Tim Burton and Pixar. Many thanks to JC that I’ve been making up for all the Pixar and Tim Burton movies that I missed. Pixar movies-- all done, except for Car 2 that was released late June this year. Tim Burton movies-- still a few more to go. Other than the two categories, it was pretty much a season of youth literature as well. Of course, Hollywood movies had to be present, which is not necessarily bad.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2／哈利波特：死神的聖物（下）(2011) It was so much better than part 1. Actually, it was probably one of the best of the Harry Potter series. I’m very glad that they ended with a good one. I was a little bit disappointed, though, that Neville, grown up and teaching Herbology at Hogwarts, wasn’t shown in the epilogue. (This was the first comment I made after seeing the movie.) Well, I guess you can never satisfy a book-fan.／比第一部分好太多了，事實上，這大概是七集裡最好的一部之一。以這樣好的片子做結真是太棒了。不過，在結尾時沒有拍出奈威回到霍格華茲教草藥學，倒是讓我小小失望了一下。（這是我看完電影後的第一句感想。）但我想要滿足一位書迷大概是永遠不可能的。
James and the Giant Peach／飛天巨桃歷險記(1996) OMG, there were so many things I loved about the movie: loved the songs; loved the use and contrasts of colors; loved the transformation between real people and animation, and the collage-like dream; etc., etc. Very Tim Burton-ish. (Is it just me, or the shipwreck captain DID look like Jack in “The Nightmare Before Christmas?”)／天哪，有太多我喜歡的元素了：喜歡裡面的歌曲、喜歡色彩的使用及對比、喜歡真人與動畫之間的轉換，以及拼貼般的夢境……等等等等。非常提姆．波頓。（是只有我這樣認為，還是那個沉船的船長真得長得很像「聖誕夜驚魂」裡的傑克？

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Pee-wee’s Big Adventure／人生冒險記(1985) Very interesting character and a cool adventure. Unique humor was presented in the entire movie. The setting seemed to cross over the line between fantasy and the real world.／非常有趣的角色及旅程。整部片瀰漫著獨特的幽默感，背景設定則好似跨越奇幻及真實世界的界線。
Toy Story 2／玩具總動員2(1999) I didn’t think the movie was that great until Jessie started to sing “When She Loved Me.” OMG! I cried from the first note to the last. Then the movie got better and better. The Star Wars spoof was funny but a little too much. This is my favorite out of the three.／一開始我並沒有覺得這部電影多厲害，直到Jessie唱「When She Loved Me」，天哪！我從頭哭到結束！接下來整體感覺就愈來愈好。電影裡對於「星際大戰」的模仿很好笑，不過有點太多了。這是三集裡我最喜歡的一集。
Toy Story 3／玩具總動員3(2010) The Spanish Buzz Lightyear was so funny! The last ten minutes was the best of the entire movie.／西班牙文版的巴斯光年真是太好笑了！電影的最後十分鐘最棒。
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory／歡樂糖果屋(1971) It’s been too long since I watched “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” so I can’t compare the two right now. I did like this 1971 one, though, especially the songs in the movie. The scene at Mr. Wonka’s office in the end was especially striking. Never thought that cutting everything into half would create such an uncanny feeling.／距離我看「巧克力冒險工廠」已經好一段時間了，所以我現在沒有辦法比較這兩者，不過，我倒是很喜歡這個1971年的版本，特別是歌曲的部分。電影最後在Mr. Wonka辦公室裡的那一景特別驚人，從來沒想過把所有的東西切成一半會造成如此怪異甚至令人毛骨悚然的效果。

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A Bug’s Life／蟲蟲危機(1998) I loved that they incorporated the Aesop’s Fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper (even though I didn’t realize it until half way through the movie when the grasshoppers were partying). It was fun to see the world from a totally different perspective. I also loved the “fake NG animation” appeared when the end credit was running. (It’s pretty much a 90’s thing, isn’t it?) There were many cute dialogs. (Eg. Slim the Stick Insect: I’m the only stick with eyeballs!) The major drawback, if you ask me, was that it tried to put in too much stuff and being somewhat melodramatic at a couple scenes.／以伊索預言的「螞蟻與蚱蜢」做為基礎概念的做法還挺高明的（雖然我一直到電影的一半當蚱蜢在唱歌跳舞的時候才突然領悟）。從完全不同的角度看世界也很有趣。我也很喜歡在跑片尾名單時出現的「假NG鏡頭」(非常地90年代)。電影裡有許多可愛的對話，例如竹節蟲說：「我是唯一有眼球的樹枝！」依我個人的意見，電影最主要的缺點是試著填入太多東西了，而且有幾個景有點過份煽情。
Sleepy Hollow／斷頭谷(1999) I didn’t really like the story, especially the ending. Johnny Depp, however, was awesome as usual.／其實並沒有非常喜歡這個故事，尤其是結尾。不過，強尼．戴普還是一樣棒！
The Fighter／燃燒鬥魂(2010) The cool, wealthy Batman has become a street drug addict. How awesome Christian Bale’s acting skill is!／帥氣蝙蝠俠竟然變成了鄉下混混！落差實在太大了，演技也實在太好了！
The Tourist／色遇(2010) I love Johnny Depp, which is the main reason I watched the movie. I don’t like Angelina Jolie, but I have to say that she was really beautiful in this movie.／我愛強尼．戴普，這也是我看這部片的原因。我不喜歡安潔莉娜．裘莉，不過我必須承認，她在這部片裡真得很美。
Toy Story／玩具總動員(1995) The movie didn’t start off impressively, but it got better and better. Sid’s toys were so creepy! I really liked the song “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.” The movie somehow reminded me of “Monster Inc.” They both happened in kids’ rooms. While one dealt with kid’s love and the other dealt with kid’s fear, the movies presented them from angles different from people’s usual perception.／電影的一開始並沒有特別吸引我，不過愈到後面愈好。席德的玩具太恐怖了！我很喜歡主題曲「You’ve Got A Friend In Me」。這部電影讓我想到「怪獸電力公司」，他們都發生在孩子的房間，一部討論孩子喜愛的東西，一部討論孩子的恐懼，不過它們都以與習慣上不同的角度呈現這些令人喜愛或害怕的東西。
Water for Elephants／大象的眼淚(2011) Be it the costumes, the props, or the circus life, the rendering of circus in the old days was great. (I’ve never experienced a circus life, but this movie did bring back my faint memory of going to circus with my parents. Yes, circuses back then still had wild animals.) The love story in the movies was ok, though.／對於早期馬戲團的呈現很棒，不管是服裝、道具，或是團員的生活。（雖然我是沒經歷過馬戲團的生活啦，不過這部電影確實勾起小時候爸媽帶我看馬戲團的微小回憶。沒錯，那時候的馬戲團還是有動物的！）愛情故事的部分倒是還好而已。

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Beetle Juice／陰間大法師(1988) ／I don’t know. I guess there’s finally a Tim Burton film that I didn’t like that much. I could see the creativity and the humor, but I somehow didn’t enjoy it as a whole. By the way, Alec Baldwin was so skinny 20+ years ago. I could barely recognize him, haha.／我不知道。我想我終於看到一部不怎麼喜歡的提姆．波頓的電影了。它有創意、有幽默，但我整體來說並不十分享受。另外，亞歷包德溫年輕的時候也太瘦了吧，我都認不出來了，哈哈。
Crazy, Stupid, Love／瘋了、傻了、愛了(2011) I was somewhat disappointed with the movie. Steve Carell was the main reason I watched it and I was ready for some good laugh in the theater, but he wasn’t really that funny here. The story was kind of cheesy.／有點失望。Steve Carell是我看這部片的主要原因，本來想說能在電影院裡好好地大笑，可是他在裡面並沒有非常好笑。劇情有點白爛。
The Green Hornet／青蜂俠(2011)

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Quotes:

You’re weird, but I like you. --Dot, A Bug’s Life

That place you’re dreaming of is not as far away as you think. And it will be that much closer once you take the first step. -- Old Man, James and the Giant Peach

Wouldn’t you give anything to have just one more day to be with Emily? -- Woody, Toy Story 2

Everyone I know is a big “but.” -- Pee-wee, Pee-wee's Big Adventure